His comment comes as the nearly two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran is due to expire on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump on Monday said that Israel did not force his hand to launch the war with Iran.
“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2003, Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel “added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” the president added.
Trump also chided media outlets and opinion polls and suggested that much of “what they say are lies and made up stories.”
Later in his post, Trump said Iranian regime officials should come to an agreement with the United States to have a “great and prosperous future.”
Since the conflict started on Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israeli militaries, in a joint operation, launched numerous strikes on Iranian targets, killing dozens of top officials in the country, including former leader Ali Khamenei. Some Democratic lawmakers and online political pundits have asserted that Israeli officials have dragged the United States into another conflict in the Middle East.
On Monday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) accused Trump of allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dictate U.S. foreign policy.
“All Trump did is listen to Netanyahu—that’s his entire foreign policy. I resent the fact that Israel is going to tell the United States what to do. The American president should call the shots in this country,” Khanna told Fox News.
In remarks on March 3, Trump also rebuffed a reporter’s question on whether Israel forced his hand. He said that he believed that Iran was likely going to attack before the U.S.–Israeli strikes were launched.
“Did [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu pull the United States into this war?” ABC News senior political correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump at the time.
“No. I might have forced their hand,” Trump said in response. “You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that.”
